Monday, 31 March 2014

Sideburn friend and contributor, piano-botherer, Canadian, Dirt Quake survivor and fantastic photographer, Grant Robinson, is the subject of this film. That's him below - looking like a shoe-in for The Stags sickness cover, should Spencer Chess ever break his scaphoid.
Motorcycho Norm cameos in the film too.
Well worth a watch. G

(Warning: There are a couple of f-bombs dropped in this film so perhaps don't watch it with your seven-year-old...).

Saturday, 29 March 2014

Very neat Yamaha 500TT race bike spotted on the Deus Ex Machina blog. It is/was for sale from their Sydney HQ.

If you're using this as a template, make sure you put your lanyard cut-out on the throttle side, not the clutch side.
Can someone tell me more about 'American CCM' frame. Is that ATK? Where they made in the US?

Friday, 28 March 2014

Static Records is a great used record store in Wigan, Lancashire. It's run by Conway Castle of The Stags and is now a stockist of Sideburn magazine. Thanks Conway!
They have an online record store too - Static Records, Wigan.

If you want to become a Sideburn stockist, please email us at dirt @ sideburnmagazine.com

You can hear a song written by Conway and played by his bandmates if you buy a record player and Sideburn Sticker Pack 3. It includes the limited edition 7in vinyl (released on Sideburn records), five vinyl stickers and a programme from Dirt Quake II. All for £5 plus post. G

Thursday, 27 March 2014

The first official practice of the 2014 DTRA series took place at Rye house, Hertfordshire, last Saturday. Great weather, good turn out, decent track conditions, loads of new faces, no need for the paramedics.
All photos: Sam Christmas

Geoff Cain, on his new Honda 450, and Frank Chatokhine (on his old Metisse Triumph).

The only female rider at the practice, Leah Tokelove.

Two-piece or one-piece leathers? Or motocross kit? Or speedway kevlars. Even Dimitri's jeans over BMX armour. We've seen it all, but never a Welsh dragon onesie (with wings and tail tied up) as worn by Olivier from France (studying in Swansea).

Dimitri Coste on a borrowed Honda, Tom Firth on a rented CCM 230.

Ross 'King' Herrod.

David Death Spray came for a few laps on the Rotax KTM he sprayed for Ross. He was quickly up to a good pace.

Drogo and Ross waiting their turn on track.

GI, riding without a brake all day, after a malfunction.

There was a French invasion. Five French riders - Olivier (from Les Petroleurs); Christophe and Frank, plus Dimitri and Olivier. There will be one more when Hubert gets his bike built.

Peter Boast (54 - number, not age - the godfather of British flat track) and Guy Sutherland, 97, plus Nick Ashley on his street tracker.

Boastie, always on it.

Top junior, Ollie Brindley, moves up to the adult class this season.

Team Co-Built.

The DTRA are looking to fill two positions -

Commentator - Have you ever fancied yourself as the next Murray Walker? Or maybe you are already better than Murray was. Either way we are after your help at our rounds this year. Alex Ragby our usual commentator is busy at many of our rounds, we would like to develop our own presentation with someone who is enthusiastic about our sport.

Press Officer - We would like more people to hear about what happens at our events. Do you have some spare time to help promote the news from our club.

Tuesday, 25 March 2014

Our mate and fellow racer Guy is selling his Honda NX650 Street Tracker/Street Scrambler on UK eBay. It's up for £2950 as a classified advert, not an auction, so no messing about. The bike is located in Oxfordshire.

Last month I visited the Mid-West to go to the Mama Tried Show and took the opportunity to detour the six-hour drive to Des Moines, Iowa, for a flying visit to the new headquarters of FTWCo. I'd been to the old HQ a couple of years ago (on a cross-country ride). I arrived at 10.30pm and stayed talking till 3am with the two owners of FTWCo: Brad (aka Fatty. Red shirt) and Jeff Wright (the man behind Church of Choppers) plus the photographer and film-maker, Michael Schmidt (green shirt) who I was working with.
Their unit is an Aladdin's cave of creativity and good stuff.

Jeff's One Shot collection.

The back of the headquarters is for bike-building. The front is the admin and T-shirt printing. Jeff does 90% of the art. Brad runs the business side of things.

Jeff's Honda CB1100EX. Hyperpro shocks; Over Engineering swingarm; RCD-Tec fuel filler; Yoshimura exhaust; hand painted tank logos. It had 2 miles - TWO MILES - on the clock, when I took this photo.

Monday, 24 March 2014

..today, since the break-out from Stalag Luft III. The Great Escape is a dramatised, Hollywoodised version of events. The truth of WWII break-out attempts is incredible. The ingenuity was mind-boggling.

The Great Escape is often wrongly remembered (by me at least) and depicted in UK TV skits as a feelgood movie of the 'good guys' winning the day. The poster, above, even calls it a great adventure - making it sound like a mountain biking holiday in Moab. Regarding the actual break-out, in 1944, of the 76 who escaped only three were successful - two Norweigians and a Dutch airman. Of the recaptured allies, 50 were executed on Hitler's orders (a war crime, as they were killed not during the escape, but when recaptured).

Apparently, a great deal of McQueen's Virgil Hilts character was based on the US Pilot David M Jones, who was on the Escape Committee and worked on the tunnels and planning, but didn't go through the tunnels and subsequently survived the war, went on to be a Jet Age test pilot and work for NASA. G

UPDATE: Coincidentally, Steve McQueen was also born on this day, in 1930. He died in 1980. If he were still alive, he'd be two years younger than Bruce Forsyth.

Sunday, 23 March 2014

I don't know how many people reading this blog are new to motorbikes, but these schools sounds like a good idea to me. This is a beginner's guide to bikes at Deus's Venice store.
Sideburn stockist Town Moto in Toronto, Canada have been doing similar night classes in their store since they opened. G

What does the ‘W’ mean on my motor oil? What is dampening? How do I even learn to ride a motorcycle? For the answers to these most common interrogatives, don your sharpest thinking caps and head over to The Emporium of Postmodern Activities on April 5th to participate in a little group learning as Deus Ex Machina’s Venice branch hosts SATURDAY SCHOOL: AN EDUCATION IN MOTORCYCLING. Tutors of all stripes will be on hand to enrich and enlighten you in your journey through the world of motorcycles. Whether first-timer or an old-timer, all are welcome. They say you learn something new every day. Why not make it a Saturday?

I saw this group, the Top Secret Drum Corps from Switzerland, on a British primetime Saturday night show I was watching with my kids and it mesmerised me (nearly as much as the tech drawing gif below).

This is a longer routine than was on TV. Make time in your day to watch it. If it doesn't impress you I don't know what will. G

Saturday, 22 March 2014

Mick Ofield's fantastic series of blueprints of iconic flat trackers continues for SB#17. Next up we have Alastair's Trackmaster BSA A70.This gif animation shows the five we've published so far - all to exactly the same scale so you can see the comparison of different wheel bases, fork rake etc. I get off on these drawings. BPWe still have a few high quality A3 giclée prints of the XR750 for sale in the Sideburn webshop.

Send in a photo of the bike you want to race and the class you choose to be in. The DQ USA Committee then decide if it's inappropriate enough. If your bike is accepted then - when entries open, you have to get your payment in to guarantee your place. Race entry is $50. Racer goody bag included. Gate entry included.

Note: having your bike approved doesn't mean you're in, you must pay (by paypal) when the entries open on 1 April. Entries Close 17 May. No entries on the day, sorry.

Dirt Quake is for ROAD bikes. It's for people to dip a toe into racing who might never have tried it. There are plenty of races for real races bikes.

SPECTATORS
$10 on the gate, $10 for camping. Live music, chopper flat track, minimal risk of injury, good times.

Saturday is elite flat track racing (the good guys on great race bikes).
Sunday is Dirt Quake (misguided fools on inappropriate road bikes)

YELLOW T-SHIRT NOW SOLD OUT. THANKS FOR THE ORDERS. STILL AVAILABLE IN GREY
Super limited edition yellow Slacker shirts.
Medium only. All other sizes sold out. These are on a Gildan Ultra, so they are a good medium, not a tighter-fitting medium (like the Gildan Ringspun that the grey Slacker is printed on). Only a handful are left from the exhibition we did with Stevie Gee.

We have also unearthed a few of the long sold out Sideburn 4. They're still at the 2009 cover price. I really love this issue, a great mix of stories and characters and bikes, from the 1950s to 2009. Well I love them all. G